Combined buckle and zonal wound compression plate



' 2, w. w. ROBINSON 85,

CO INED BUCKLE AND ZONAL WO I I J Inventor,

Patented Jan. 2, 1940 COMBINED BUCKLE ANDyZONAL WOUND .OOMPR-ESSION PLATE Wallace Robinson, Portland, Maine I Application .August. 1, 1938, Serial No. 222,344

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an appliance capable of functioning-in various ways and for several 1 purposes, one being to serve as a body belt buckle, and the other as a compress binder for wounds, .for either of which purposes'it will ordinarily be used in conjunction with a belt. or strap. For general descriptive purposes this element will hereinafter be referred to as a presser-plate.

The device is so designed and constructed that when being used or worn as a pant-retaining affair it may instantly be removed'from the persons body and converted into and utilized as a life-saving appliance, in the form of a tourniquet treatment of a or compress binder in first aid bleeding wound.

The fact that my device can function in two difierent capacities is not incidental, as I have, by extensive experimentation, evolved a particvular form of structure which renders it capable 01. being employed for more than one purpose. And it is of especial importance and significance to a person wearing the device as a body belt fixture to be conscious of the fact that if he does meet with a serious accident, involving a copi ously bleeding wound, he has an appliance, im

mediately available, which he can instantly con vert into a surgical, first aid piece "of apparatus for staying the flow of blood, and possibly be the means of saving his life, as prompt attention to a bleeding wound often amounts to the diiference between life or death to the patient.

The transition of my device from a belt buckle to a compress binder is so easily and quickly accomplished that the change from one to the other of its objectives is simplicity itself.

-The device may, in certain cases be directly applied to the wound and retained thereon by a persons hand until expert treatment oithe woun'dyor hospitalization of thepatient is forthcoming.

The present invention incorporates improvements in the structure embodied in the invention disclosed in a co-pending application filed by me onJune 30,1937, Serial Number'15h2-l8, dealing with Zonal hemorrhage checking plates.

For a'clearer understanding of the import of my invention reference shouldbe had to the de scription found in the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing'in which like reference characters are employed to identify like parts in all views thereof,

and in which- Fig. l'is aplan view of plate element; I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

one form of mypresser- Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3, Fig. 1; Fig. i is a sectional view of a body on which the'device is mountedand retained by a belt, in which instance it is serving as a belt buckle element; I Fig. 5 shows the device used as a compress binder, encompassing a wound, and contacting the body or the dressing immediately applied to the wound reversely to that shown in Fig. 4;

Fig.6 illustrates an alternate form of presser- 10 plate; I

Fig. 7 shows an application of the alternate form of presser-plate in which it is tucked under the tensioned strap, over one opening of a wound, 15

and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan View of the alternate design of presser-plate.

Referring to the'drawing, the simpler-form of my presser-plate, shown in detail in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and in its application for two different pur- 20 poses in Figsf and 5,. comprises a U-shaped element having upstanding walls I, I, forming its side'portions and two transverse bridge-barsz, 2, interconnecting the walls at each end, respeotively, of the p'resser-plate. 1

The walls, together withthe bridge-bars define a large, central opening in what I shall call the top of the presser-plate, this opening, 3, being the reliefor de-compres'sion zone of the wound-- ed area, of an injured memben' In each vertical" wall i is a strap-engaging aperture 4, the belt or strap 5, being reeved through these apertures when the device is being used for its various purposes, as will hereinafter be fully set forth.

When the pr'esser plate'is' being employed as a belt buckle, as illustrated in Fig. 4, one end of the strap is reeved through an aperture. 4, .as shown at the right in Fig. 4, and around the bar Ia of the wall, I.

clothing C and the portion of the strap which The free end of the strap is disposed in direct contact with the wearers strap oh the free end thereof, together with the 46 snubbiiig effortcreated by the partial encircle- I ment of the trap over the bar Ia frictionally holds this end of the binding element 5 in any position to which itis-adjusted. The clothing identified by character 0 is a pant, and the eleso I through the aperture 4 and then under the bar presser-plate is presented to the Wound in reverse order to that when used as a belt buckle. In other words, in the belt buckle application the bridge-bars 2 are outwardly disposed, whereas in the use of the presser plate as a surgical instrument they are in direct contact with the dress ing, not shown, over the Wound.

Fig. 5 illustrates the device as applied to a wound. One end 5a of the strap is, in this instance passed over the bar' la, downwardly' through the aperture t and under the main portion of the strap 5 which later will be under tension, and held, as was the casein the previous application described, by frictional and snubbing action of the parts. The opposite end of the strap is first reeved through the-aperture l on the opposite wall I of the presser-pl'ate, passed over the bar la, and after tensioning of the strap its free end is tucked under the portion which has been tensioned, this having the effect of frictionally holding the strap in any position to which it has been adjusted. I

In Fig. 6 I show a slightly modified form of presser-plate. In this design I have added a flange 6 on each side, interconnecting with the side walls I, and at both ends of each flange is a strap-retaining extension projecting outwardly, these extensions 6a, forming marginal stops to prevent lateral displacement of the strap when disposed over the base flanges 6, which preferably, although not necessarily, are arcuate in form, when the presser-plate is arranged as shown in Fig. '7, which application, however, is somewhat different from that shown in Fig. 5. i

In a bullet wound there aregenerally two openings, one the entrance and the other the exit. After the presser-plate has been placed and adjusted over the most copiously bleeding outlet the strap is tensioned around the injuredmember, B.

Now to treat the opposite opening of the wound an extra'presser-plate is put to use by inserting it under the tensionedstrap over the wound opening, this action creating further tension of the strap. In this arrangement the strap completely encompasses the presser-plate, as shown in Fig. 7, lying at both sides of the presser-plate in the depressions 6b in the flanges, between the projecting portions 6a, and held by these latter against displacement from the device.

In using the presser-plate shown in Fig. 6 for ordinary buckle and compress binding purposes, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the reevingof the strap or belt is carried out on similar lines as obtains with the first design of presser-plate described.

A particularly important feature in the design of either the preferred or the alternative construction of the presser-plate resides in the mannor in which the pull or draft of the strap on the side walls or flanges is made. In the case of its application as a surgical appliance the Dresser-plate is more effectively bound on the body, around the wound, by the elevated points of connection of the strap ends with the side walls orflanges, more so than if these connection points plate are effective to close other arteries or blood vessels which may have been ruptured, as shown at Y, Y, but leaving the smaller blood vessels, as

at Z, Z, free for collateral circulation of the blood. It will be observed that the straps themselves areout of contact with the wound and the blood flowing therefrom.

In case, a person is not in the habit of wearing a belt and does not wish to be encumbered with a strap, which would in most instances be used for binding purposes, he can quite conveniently carry one or two of the small presser-plates in his pocket, when out, say, on an automobile trip,

and if he should unfortunately meet with an accident involving a bleeding wound, use a hand v kerchief, or a piece of cloth torn from his shirt as a substitute for the strap regularly supplied with the presser-plates. Although this is an expedient method, it might in certain instances result in saving the injured persons life by staying the flow of blood from the wound.

My present invention combines in one element an article of utility or every-day use with a surgi cal appliance available immediately the occasion for its use arises.- I

- It embodies the simplest possible structure, is

easily applied, and is of such form that it can very conveniently be kept clean and sterile. In

peaceful pursuits, or in the tragedies of war, the.

present invention will be found a very commendable piece of apparatus to possess. What I claim is:

. 1. In a device of the class described comprising a member embodying two side walls, bridge-bars transversely interconnecting said side walls, oneof said bars at each end of said device, said walls and said bridge-bars together defining a large,

, central opening in the top of said device, and a strap-receiving aperture in each of said side Walls. 1

2. In a device of the class described comprisingf a member embodying two bridge-bars disposed,

- respectively, at the two ends of said device, downwardly extending portions joining said bridgebars at each end of said device, said downwardly extending portions together with said bridge-bars defining a large, central opening constituting a zone of wound relief, and a strap-engaging aperture in each of said downwardly extending portions.

3. In a device of the class described comprising in combination with a strap element, a member having two bridge-bars, one at each of the respective ends of said device and positioned across the top thereof,strap-engaging portions on each side of said device, said portions joining said bridge-bars and with them defining a large, cen

tral opening in the top of said device, and an aperture in each of 'said strap-engaging portions, through which said strap is reeved when binding elements extending downwardly from each side wall, on the two ends, respectively, thereof.

WALLACE W. ROBINSON;

said device to a body, and two strap-engaging 

